Newspaper Page Text
October 12, 2022
Page 3B
@ Reporter
Lady Dogs beat Crawford, ready for state playoff run
By Maxwell Nickel
s.maxwell.nickel@mcschools.org
The Mary Persons Varsity
Softball (10-12) team beat
the Crawford County
Eagles (8-13) on Oct. 5 in a
non-region matchup in one
of the last games of the sea
son. The MP squad crushed
the Eagles in an impressive
and dominant 6-2 victory
that raised the team’s season
record to 10-12, right under
.500. Following the loss,
Crawford County’s record
fell to 8-13.
Mary Persons ranks #3
in the 3A Region 2 Soft
ball Standings, 6-6 in the
region. Above MP in the 3A
rankings are Pike County,
who is 11-1, and Jackson
who is 10-2 at the moment.
Beneath Mary Persons in
the standings lies Upson
Lee, which is 3-9, and Peach
County which is 0-12.
Within the 3A Region, MP
has clinched the #3 spot and
a trip to the playoffs.
MP looks to further im
prove their record in a 5:30
pm Thursday non-region
game against Eagle’s Land
ing Christian Academy on
Oct. 13.
While the Oct. 1 game
with Lamar had been
deemed a forfeit after a
Lady Trojan was injured,
the GHSA has now deemed
the game a no contest with
no winner.
Quane-
sha
Brown
throws
the ball
home
from the
pitchers
position.
(Photo
Will Da
vis)
laney Turner makes the play for the MP Volley Dogs. (Photo/Russ Campbell)
Volley Dogs prep
for state
By Maxwell Nickel
s.maxwell.nickel@mcschools.org
The Mary Persons Varsity
Volley Dogs fell to the Jack-
son Red Devils in the final
game of the Mary Persons
season on Oct. 8. At the time,
Mary Persons had a record
of 16-7, a 67 percent win
percentage, and Jackson was
23-13. Jackson dominated
against MP in a victorious
3-0 sweep win, advancing
their record to 24-13 and
taking MP’s record down to
16-8. These are both team’s
final records for the season.
To finish the season, Jack-
son was able to top off their
playoffs
10-0 in-region game season
record, ranking #1 in the
3A Area 2 Volleyball Stand
ings. Mary Persons finished
#2 in the rankings, with a
region record of 6-3. Under
MP stood #3 Pike County,
#4 Upson Lee, and, lastly, #5
Peach County. Pike finished
their season with a 3-5 region
record that stood just under
.500, Upson Lee came out
with a record of 2-6, and
Peach holds a final region
record of 1-8.
The MP Varsity team has
now completed their regular
season, and there will be no
upcoming games in the next
week.
Long-time Mid-Ga. sports reporter predicts Peach win
Michael A. Lough worked
at the Macon Telegraph
from 1998-2017 and
founded and has been
running The Sports Report
of Central Georgia for five
years. Check them out at
www.central-
gasports.com.
Lough kindly
shared with the
Reporter his
insights into Fri
day’s game with
Peach County.
Q. Peach
County is 3-3
to start the sea
son, which is not
very Peach-like.
Are the natives restless or
is this the result of a tough
non-region schedule?
A. Yes and no. They’ve
played tough schedules
before and been much
more consistent. Note
that in their losses, they’ve
scored 7, 7, and 6. And
then they’ve won by 30,
32, and 29. They’ve already
had two off weeks, and
that makes it tough to get
into a groove early. The
restlessness lies in that in
consistency. Which Peach
County is showing up on
a given week? They were
3-3 last year, with only two
non-region
games. That’s
a little too
familiar for
the natives.
Q. Peach
always has
some D-l
prospects.
Who are
they this
year and what should
Mary Persons know
about those players?
A. They have signees
each year, but the number
of power-5 or upper-level
group of 5 prospects has
decreased, it seems. LB
Skieler Mann has that
good size at about 6-2,205,
and he appears headed
to Mississippi. They don’t
have, at this point, many
big prospects, but as usual,
a chunk of good-to-really-
good high school players.
Q. What are Peach’s
strengths and weaknesses
this year? We couldn’t find
stats online so we have no
clue.
A. It seems as though
they’re still looking for an
identity on offense. QB
Colton Ginn has made
some upper-level visits,
but they’re also playing
Christian Martin, who has
more experience. Chris
McMillian has been a main
running back for a couple
years now. He’s not big,
but he runs hard and can
catch it.
Q. This is MP’s first trip
to Fort Valley since they
renovated the stadium.
Should MP fans and
players be ready to be
impressed?
A. It’s quite different
in every phase than the
old place. Stands go up
higher, new artificial turf,
everything you’d expect in
a brand-new facility. The
requisite light show. But it’s
still 100 yards by 53 1/3.
Q. MP hasn’t beaten
Peach since 2018. Obvi
ously the Jackson loss was
a kick in the gut. What
do the Dogs need to do to
have a chance Friday?
A. Both teams are hard to
figure this year. Both teams
are down, and the region
isn’t very strong, either.
Both have played a decent-
to-tough schedule. Peach
County is always physical,
and its fundamentals are
usually underrated. The
Trojans rarely beat them
selves, and they always
have a higher level of
confidence than most op
ponents. It’s really simply
a thing of playing every
play, forget the last play
and don’t look ahead and
do your job. You have to
play Peach County’s game
mentally to win: physical,
don’t make stupid mis
takes, and play with a little
swagger. The Bulldogs are
lOUGH
DOGS
Continued from 1 B
Junior running back Duke Watson
did roll up 229 yards against the
Red Devils, but three interceptions
left MP scoreless in the second half
as MP dropped its second game to
Jackson in 3 years.
The Bulldogs began with an 11-
play drive from their own 20 to the
Jackson 8. The big play was when
senior quarterback Logan Hickman
connected with Kham Little for a
35-yard gain to the Jackson 8. But an
illegal procedure penalty was fol
lowed by two lost-yardage plays and a
34 yard field goal try fell short.
Jackson took over at its own 20 and
mounted its own 13-play drive that
also ended in a field goal attempt that
was wide right.
On its next possession MP mount
ed another drive to the Jackson
45 but Hickman threw the first of
three interceptions on the night.
But Jackson gave the ball back three
plays later on a fumble at their own
33. Hickman ran for 7 yards and a
Jackson penalty set MP up with 1st
and goal at the 7. But MP was flagged
again for illegal procedure and then
Champ Brantley lost 13 yards and
passes on 3rd and 4th down fell
incomplete. So on 2 of MP’s first 3
drives, the Bulldogs had first and goal
inside the 10 and failed to get points.
Those missed opportunities would
loom large later.
In the second quarter, MP finally
got on the board. It started when
sophomore Nic Arnold blocked the
punt of Jackson’s Chance Goddin
and Nemo Jones recovered at the Red
Devil 16 yard line. Watson carried
the next two plays and scored from a
yard out. Ryan Bankston’s PAT made
it 7-0.
Jackson responded on its next
possession when quarterback Jeshua
Hosford hit Marco Barlow on a 37-
yard touchdown play to make it 7-7
with 3:29 left in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs started their next pos
session at their own 20 and picked
up where they had left off on the
previous drive. Watson ripped off 19
yards to the 40. Then Hickman found
Nemo Jones for 19 more yards to the
Jackson 37. With just 26 seconds left
in the half, Hickman found Nemo
again not in the ocean deep, but in
the end zone for a 37 yard touch
down. Bankston’s PAT made it 14-7
at the half.
But the Red Devils, perhaps still
sore from last year’s miraculous last-
second win by MP, went to work in
the second half. They took the open
ing possession and marched 7 plays
all on the ground and found the end
zone to tie the game 14-14 with 9:12
left in the third.
MP went 3 and out and then Jack-
son did it again. The Red Devils went
71 yards on 8 plays before Hosford
found Barlow again for Jackson’s first
lead of the night 21-14.
MP made it to midfield to open the
fourth quarter but then Hickman
threw his second pick of the night.
Then Jackson went on a soul
sucking 18-play drive that consumed
nearly the entire quarter, all but 3
plays on the ground, before putting
the game away with a 2 yard touch
down run to make 28-14.
With time running out MP did
mount one last furious drive to the
Jackson 23 before throwing another
interception and the Red Devils had
beaten MP for the second time in
three years.
inconsistent, too, following
two nice wins with some
smack-in-the-face losses.
Prediction: Mary Persons
isn’t playing well right
now, and Peach County’s
playing a little better. The
Trojans have won 10 of the
last 11. It continues: Peach
County 35, Mary Persons
17.
MP @ JACKSON
TEAM STATS
MP
Jackson
First Downs
18
18
Rushing yds.
244
163
Passing yds.
154
165
Total yards
398
328
Comp-Att-Int
8-21-3
12-28-0
Fumbles-Lost
1-0
1-1
Penalties
14-112 yards
6-42 yards
i
2 3
4 T
Jackson 0
7 14
7 28
MP 0
14 0
0 14
BULLDOG SCORING
Second Quarter
• Duke Watson 1 yard run (Bankston kick)
• Nemo Jones 37 yard pass (Bankston kick]
INDIVIDUAL MP STATS
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Player
Carries Yards
TDs
Duke Watson
31 228
1
Logan Hickman
5 22
Nemo Jones
2 8
Champ Brantley
3 -12
RJ Holder
1 -3
PASSING
Comp.
Att. Yards TDs INTs
Logan Hickman 8
21 154 1
3
RECEIVING
Rec.
Yards TDs
Kham Little 3
65
Nemo Jones 3
56 1
Duke Watson 1
20
Ty Dumas 1
13
PUNTING
Punts Average
Long
Ryan Bankston
DEFENSE
TACKLES
1 30
30
Solo Tackles Assist Tackles
Brandon Alford 2
7
9
Jaise Davis 5
4
9
Shamon Reece 5
1
6
Jacobi Jones 4
1
5
JT Owens
5
5
Jevone Sands 3
2
5
Malaki Knight 1
2
3
Champ Brantley 1
2
3
Christian Stewart 2
1
3
Nic Arnold 1
1
2
Jayden Odoms 1
1
2
OJ Evans
1
1